Hawking is known for his contributions to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity, especially in the context of black holes.

He has a motor neurone disease that is related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a condition that has progressed over the years and has left him almost completely paralysed since 1974.

ALS is commonly known in the United States as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Stephen William Hawking 8 January 1942 (age 69) Oxford, England

At left: Stephen Hawking at NASA, 1980s

Hawking's illness is markedly different from typical ALS because if confirmed Hawking's case would make for the most protracted case ever documented. A survival for more than ten years after diagnosis is uncommon for ALS; the longest documented durations, other than Hawking's, are 32 and 39 years and these cases were termed benign because of the lack of the typical progressive course.

Image and above text from Wikipedia. Please click on the above link. There is much more to the story, and it's fascinating.

The post is more accurately described by the title "Technical Assistant to Stephen Hawking." It is not a PhD or Post-Doc position for academics looking to study physics, but a purely technical post to allow Prof. Hawking to function within the physics community and as a public speaker.

The original purpose of this position was "to aid Professor Hawking in those areas which he has difficulty due to his disability." The job has since expanded and now includes:

Managing national and international travel for Prof. Hawking and his care team. Expect to spend around 3 months per year abroad!

Development and maintenance of Professor Hawking's communication and speech systems

Procurement and maintenance of his wheelchairs and accessible van

Preparation of lecture graphics and public speaking

Dealing with the media and press

Answering inquiries from the public and maintaining the website

The post requires a wide range of skills, most importantly:

Ability to work under pressure

Maintenance of "black box" systems with no instruction manual or technical support

Computer literacy

Electronics knowledge

Ability to speak to a large audience

Ability to show others how to use complex systems

The role of 'Graduate Assistant to Professor Hawking' is funded as a research post at the University of Cambridge. Normally it has been under a 12 month contract, although recent graduate assistants have stayed on for several years.

The famed British physicist is seeking an assistant to help develop and maintain the electronic speech system that allows him to communicate his vision of the universe. An informal job ad posted to the famed physicist's website said the assistant should be computer literate, ready to travel, and able to repair electronic devices "with no instruction manual or technical support."

Hawking has long struggled against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease which left him almost completely paralyzed.

He lost his real voice in a tracheotomy in 1985, but a wheelchair-mounted computer helps synthesize speech by interpreting the twitches of his face. The synthesizer's robotic monotone has become nearly as famous as Hawking himself, but the computer ? powered by batteries fastened to the back of Hawking's wheelchair ? isn't just for speaking.

Hawking's website says that the job's salary is expected to be about 25,000 pounds ($38,500) a year.

Media Appearances, Movies, Music

Wikipedia reports ...

In Hawking's many media appearances, he appears to speak fluently through his synthesiser, but in reality, it is a tedious drawn-out process. Hawking's setup uses a predictive text entry system, which requires only the first few characters in order to auto-complete the word, but as he is only able to use his cheek for data entry, constructing complete sentences takes time. His speeches are prepared in advance, but having a live conversation with him provides insight as to the complexity and work involved. During a TED Conference talk, it took him seven minutes to answer a question.

Here is an interesting update on Geekologie showing an image of Stephen Hawking weightless. The link to the official opening is down, but I cannot find news an assistant was found. Perhaps they have closed the application process even if the slot is not filled.